Striking at the heart of Melbourne
Across Melbourne, nearly 400 high school and university students walked out of class for Gaza on 18 April. It’s the fifth time we’ve done so in six months, because we’re determined to keep bringing young people into the movement until Palestine is free.
We gathered at the State Library and had speeches from highschoolers, uni students and a teacher. The media and the police asked us what route we were taking. We didn’t answer, partly because we didn’t really know. All we knew was that we were determined to occupy an important public building. When it was time to march, we set off to Melbourne Central Station. One of the marshals came up with a phrase for our tactics: the “open door policy”. You see an open door, you rush in and lead the rest of the march with you.
At the previous protest, authorities had closed nearly every major door of Melbourne Central and established police lines in front of the others. On 18 April, we were prepared to try to break through police lines, like we had previously. The police formed a line in front of the march, but we ran around it and swarmed into Melbourne Central.
Chanting “Free, free Palestine!”, we turned the permanent shopping displays into our temporary stage, holding a sit-in around them. We stood on tables—and highschoolers and uni students made impromptu speeches. Security guards told us to get down. As if we ever would! A ten-metre-long banner unfurled, reading “End the genocide” as the air filled with confetti-like leaflets fluttering down from the balconies.
Many of those at the strike had never been to a protest before. But you’d never have known it since everyone, I suppose, got with the vibe. We were there because we want everyone to know that our government has blood on its hands. We wanted to take a moral and political stand against the genocide in Gaza. That meant causing a fuss and disrupting things.
Hundreds of people watched on, and whether or not they agreed with us, we had their attention. During the speeches, loads of them cheered. Soon enough, we were out of there. We then sat down on the tram tracks of arguably one of the most crowded parts of the city. Our last chant, which we came up with at the first strike, was simple: “We will fight until we win!”
That night, we were all over the news. Channel 7 and Channel 9 both ran stories with footage of the protests. Victorian Police Chief Commissioner Shane Patton lamented the dramatic rise in protests that’s taken place during the genocide. He condemned us for “wasting police resources”, and he called for the introduction of anti-protest laws.
We’ve never asked the police to be at the strikes, and we would much prefer for them not to come. We don’t carry weapons or attack people. And we disperse when we’ve made our point. The police presence is totally unnecessary. So in a way we can all agree—the police resources are a total waste.
We wrote an open letter opposing Patton’s proposed anti-protest legislation and pledging to defy any laws that are introduced. At time of writing, over 1,000 people have signed the letter.
As students, we often aren’t taken seriously or treated as political people. High schoolers can’t even vote. So we don’t get a lot of say on what happens in the world, who wins elections, who controls the country. And even if we could vote, we can’t vote for a free Palestine and make it a reality: we have to fight for it.
The strikes are an opportunity for us to have a voice. And the more people that come together, the louder our voices will be.
We want the Australian government and all of our universities to cut ties with Israel. Not only do we want a ceasefire; we want an end to Israel’s occupation of Palestine and the right for all of the Palestinian diaspora to return to their homes.
So far, we have gotten the attention of the minister of education, the premier and every mainstream media platform. More importantly, we’ve shown hundreds of thousands of people that many young people oppose what Israel is doing. We’ve helped to show how broad the base of support for Palestine is. We’ve kept Gaza in the news and inspired other sections of the movement to keep protesting.
Like generations before us, all over the world, we are keeping alive the fight for a world without war.
Ivy Bertram is a year 12 student and Students for Palestine organiser.
